Hi.

Mar 13 LOUIS LOGIC / MISERY LOVES COMEDY (2006)

Every once in a while, you listen to an artist for the first time and you remember it forever. The first time I heard Louis Logic was in the fall of 2003. My roommate's friend picked us up to go somewhere in his new Scion (that ugly, boxy thing that looked like a toaster) and he had Sin-A-Matic in the deck. I was mesmerized. When we got back, I instantly hit the Internet to order it from Amazon. I emailed back and forth with Lou a few times after that, constantly bugging him about a trip out to CA for a show. It never materialized.

Fast forward to the summer of 2006. I was running a music department at a store and we would get loads of CD's each day to throw out on the floor. Tuesday's were my favorite day of course, as back then, that's when new albums would hit shelves. Amongst my shipment that day, one copy of Misery Loves Comedy. It took me by surprise - I wasn't expecting it, but bought it instantly and listened to it on the way home. After just a few listens, I knew it was better than Sin-A-Matic, no easy task.

If you've never heard of Louis Logic, he's got a pretty predictable topic list on his projects. He's going to hit his penchant for drinking, women and the relationship problems that inherently come with them, and being independent - all served with a sprinkling of arrogance and comedy. The production here is impressively handled by J.J. Brown, who steered the bulk of Sin-A-Matic. Both men grew on this project.

All Girls Cheat is a simple tale that highlights a counterpoint to the usual hip-hop trope of sleeping around, an uncomfortable listen when with your significant other for sure. He illustrates not only that women have the same impulses as men, but what happens when friends try to clue you in about that fact.

Most men think that they got the only faithful oneThat doesn't just make you wrong, it also makes you dumb

Ouch. The Withdrawal Method and The Great Divide continue with Lou's perspective on love and relationship problems.

A Perfect Circle is a crazy tale of a secluded telemarketer turned stalker. The progression of the story over four verses is really impressive, moving from a brooding loner working phones, to a chance phone call, to a visit to her apartment, to murder. Every verse is crafted masterfully.

Desperate times call for closer measuresSo I left behind the telephone and bought some telephoto lensesParked in a car, like those old detectives I watched from afarAnd saw that she lived by herself alone and friendless

They're not all winners. Classy McNasty is a juvenile attempt at shock humor that just doesn't come together for me. It's immature and needless, with lyrics like:

You'll never see Louis taken a diveUnless my head's between a woman's legs, tasting her thighs (Ooo!)With my face in her pie, like I'm in a contest waving goodbye (Bye bye!)While I'm disappearing into her prom dress. (Yup)

Or from Captain Lou Al Wino:

I have connections, moistened lips to my erectionsCause I enjoy a kiss in my private sectionSo any ladies interested in diving lessonsJoin the list back stage, I'm the guy undressing

This may have been funny at 15, but when I picked this album up I was 25 and over that kind of stuff in my music. Lou is better at sly, wry humor anyway, which he displays on tracks like Morning After Pill, a fantasy track about a pill that cures hangovers.

Which isn't a bit as quickAs the wise-cracks, oohs and gruntsHit the lips of your homiesWhen you lose your lunchOr you kiss a chickWhose size of skirt and intimate undergarmentsIndicate that she likes dessert

The album ends with Misery Loves Comedy, a track with no chorus - just Lou spitting for nearly 5 minutes about everything from his frustration with his life choices to his place in the game. It's a great way to end things and a reminder of just how talented he is.

After this, both men sort of...faded away from the scene. Louis Logic put out Me, You, and Everyone You Know in 2010, a sort of compilation of Logic and a bunch of newcomers (M-Phazes and The Let Go are the only people here I'd ever heard from again) and then Look on the Blight Side in 2013, an experimental album which saw Logic play every instrument on the record. Since then he's been quiet, working as a digital advertising company in New York City. His Bandcamp is still up, but the linked site that he used to sell merchandise on is now gone.

Even more confusing is J.J. Brown's disappearance. He put out Connect the Dots, which has a few tracks I enjoy, but it honestly just seems like an attempt at being a knockoff Louis Logic. He formed 5G Productions with Dan Maier, but aside from a mashup EP and a Gym Class Heroes remix track, I can't find anything he's done since, which is unfortunate. Their website is now defunct. If you know what happened with J.J. Brown, I'd love to hear about it.